


violet tree

by orphan_account



Category: TOMORROW X TOGETHER | TXT (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Friends to Lovers, Hanahaki Disease, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mutual Pining, Not Beta Read, Requited Unrequited Love, however there still is angst and lots of feelings, i wrote this because i will give taejun their happy ending and no one can stop me, songfic kinda aka overuse of txt lyrics, this isn't in the u+ universe they're just idols
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-28
Updated: 2020-06-28
Packaged: 2021-03-04 11:15:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24968812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐠𝐨 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭.
Relationships: Choi Yeonjun/Kang Taehyun
Comments: 13
Kudos: 76





	violet tree

**Author's Note:**

> ....so we all know how the eternally music video went. i swear i sobbed for like ten minutes straight after taejun's scene.
> 
> and yeah, i’m in pain. taejunists, we have asked, no, begged for content for weeks on end now. so bighit delivers, as they always do, but also provide us with a healthy dose of heartbreak. the universe is simultaneously on our side and out to get us. i hate it here. anyways, here is me hastily writing a story as an outlet for the emotions the eternally music video has invoked within me.
> 
> **disclaimer: if you’re expecting perfection of some sort, i would not read this. i wrote this in about five hours, which may seem like a lot of time to some people to write this amount of words and revise, but i’m so slow and bad with words. this fic is more introspective and emotions based rather than being plot heavy. however, i hope you can find some enjoyment or something in this fic! <3

the wave mounts as it races towards the shore. it’s a slow process, one that the members observe with palpable fear. however, yeonjun tries to keep his head up as much as possible. the oldest boy takes on a calm facade, plastering sunny smiles across the bottom portion of his face nearly all of the time. the blonde is so dedicated to pretending that everything is okay that he even starts to fool his own group members. taehyun doesn’t know if he actually has grown to believe yeonjun’s claims, or if it’s easier to just ignore the harsh reality of yeonjun’s disease. the unavoidable truth is there, an elephant in the room, but taehyun continues to swerve around it in a desperate attempt at maintaining his sanity, because he can not fathom the idea that his oldest friend might be on his deathbed.

yeonjun has hanahaki for a few weeks until the rest of his members find out. it’s kai who discovers what yeonjun is really facing after he wakes up in the middle of one night to find yeonjun hovered over a trash can, retching into it. the youngest ran over to his eldest hyung, clearly worried, but grew even more concerned when he saw that the older boy was coughing up dark purple, syrupy liquid, and flower petals, rather than phlegm. kai wakes up soobin first and then the other two members, and before they all know it, they’re piled into a manager’s car on the way to the hospital.

“he has hanahaki disease,” the doctor announces to the group of seven in the room, comprised of yeonjun, the other four members, a manager, and their company physician. yeonjun refuses to meet the eyes of anyone standing in the room.

“isn’t that...a thing from fairy tales?” their manager asks, panicked. the doctor gives him a sympathetic smile. “that’s what most people think, but it’s just rather uncommon worldwide. the reason it’s not very public is also probably because it’s caused by such a strong love that most are too embarrassed to speak of it, especially with it being unrequited. it’s something most choose to not share, they’ll just get the quick procedure and be done with it.”

“and how does that procedure work?” soobin inquires, the tone of his voice taking on a certain conviction that he only gets when he’s trying to hold himself together as the leader of the group. if there’s anything yeonjun feels especially guilty about, it’s putting soobin through his mess.

“well, it’s very simple. we merely remove the roots of the flowers from his lungs, and whatever greenery there is too. he will be put to sleep for such a surgery. then, he takes some medicine for a few weeks so that the feelings of unrequited love have a minimal risk of returning.”

“wait,” yeonjun, startled, gets up. he locks eyes with the doctor. “that’s true? when you get the procedure, you seriously can’t love the person anymore?”

“i mean, you can, just on a much smaller lev-”

“no.”

“you don’t understand sir, it’s for your own good.”

“i said no,” yeonjun mutters, voice low. he finally spares his bandmates a glance. “i…i can’t do this.”

yeonjun had never understood the expression “so silent that you could hear a pin drop” before this moment. he was a boisterous child, and had lived within anywhere between four and eight other boys for the past six years. quiet was a rarity, and silence was practically a myth. but for the first time, everyone goes completely mute, shock written all over their features.

kai and taehyun don’t say anything. kai, when beomgyu steps forward, grabs onto the older boy’s arm and pulls him back, shaking his head. beomgyu, despite his apprehension, complies and moves back. his eyes are drawn together, knit with worry.

yeonjun, the manager, and soobin all stare at one another. the three of them had shared countless meetings in the past two years, always discussing the direction in which they wanted to take txt. this was a wrench in their plans for sure, but yeonjun couldn’t bring himself to retract his statement. there was no way he could agree to this, even if his love was blooming flowers of death in his body.

when yeonjun looks at soobin, he doesn’t see anger or fear though. there’s just confusion. yeonjun can’t tell if he hates that more or less, because that’s the thing, no one gets it. yeonjun can’t fault soobin for that, since he would never wish this predicament on anyone, but it presents an almost impenetrable object in his quest to reason with the others.

“it’s not...uncommon, for people to decide this actually,” the doctor pipes up from where he’s hovering by the door.

“it’s not?” the manager questions.

“well, no. that’s something i didn’t mention...the reason hanahaki is so unheard of is because a lot of people maintain the secret of their love and choose to simply die without anyone ever unearthing the truth.”

soobin looks alarmed, but their manager just lets out a sigh, slow and quiet. there’s exasperation in it, but yeonjun cares about his decision more than how he feels about it. “technically, i can not force you to do anything, yeonjun--”

“wait-” soobin interjects, but their manager cuts him off.

“but, we will go back to this question several times in the coming days. i want to make sure that you understand what’s at stake. for now, is there anything that you can do to help him doc?” the manager finishes, turning back to the physician.

“i’m afraid not, but i can give you my number in case you have any news to tell me, or if you change your mind.”

yeonjun wants to say that it won’t be necessary, but he stops himself just before the words fall from his mouth. some members are refusing to meet his eyes and others are boring holes in his head. there’s a division between them now, an unfamiliar tension that yeonjun hates.

yeonjun decides that it’s worth it though, knowing the personal consequences he would face if he picked the other option.

the seven of them pile back into the van. yeonjun moves to sit at the back, but taehyun and kai shoot out their hands at the same time, guiding him into their row. beomgyu and soobin, who are sitting in front of the trio, turn their heads so that they can look at them.

“how long?” beomgyu asks, voice stern, but he does so while softly rubbing yeonjun’s knuckles. it’s a fitting deed concerning the situation at hand.

“only two and a half weeks,” yeonjun replies. his flower petals weren’t even that big yet.

“we’re not mad,” soobin starts, pausing as he tries to collect his thoughts. “i just think there’s a better option and i don’t know why you wouldn’t do it, but i support you.”

“same here,” taehyun pipes up quietly. his honey skin is a touch paler than usual as he stares at yeonjun inquisitively, but he says nothing more. kai throws in his encouragement, but yeonjun knows what they’re waiting for, a greater explanation. they want something to make them understand, or maybe some words that will motivate them, inspiring them to keep going even if their best friend was inching towards an inevitable death if he did not take action.

yeonjun doesn’t know how to verbalize everything he is experiencing, feeling as if he will do his heart an injustice if he attempts to do so. so, he chooses the second prompt.

“i’m not going anywhere, i promise. we’ll figure this out.”

no one says anything about the what ifs. the manager and physician are in the front, focusing on the streets of seoul as they try to navigate the city’s late night traffic. beomgyu and soobin turn back towards the front, pulling out their phones and typing away. huening kai looks out the window, observing the skyline through the dark, tinted windows as they zoom by in the van. taehyun doesn’t look away though, and just tightens his grip on yeonjun’s bicep, a silent reassurance of his everlasting presence.

yeonjun chokes down the flower that crawls up his throat after a few minutes. he too turns to the window, and tries to shove down his fear by thinking about how fortunate he is to still have some time left. it’s better than nothing. 

\--

taehyun and yeonjun had always been close, despite them not performing a lot of skinship with each other on camera. the two had been together the longest out of all the txt members, and therefore, their relationship had a certain steadiness to it, one found in the promise they had made to each other five long years ago. they always could be honest and open with one another, with the understanding that they were in this, together, for the long run.

but right now, taehyun doesn’t want to listen. he doesn’t feel like he should try to understand yeonjun, because he already does. he knows what it’s like to feel that earth-shattering attraction to someone, something so strong that it knocks you off your orbit and all of a sudden, you’re floating through a universe where only that person matters. taehyun has fallen in love before, experienced love in all of its beauty and pain. for that reason, he doesn’t call yeonjun selfish for his choice, because the love that taehyun has felt sticks with him, never leaving no matter how much time passes and the distance that still exists between him and his first love. most of all, he knows what it’s like to not want to let someone go. so while he understands and can sympathize with yeonjun’s wishes, something in taehyun itches to act irrationally, despite his usual composure. he wants to scream in the older boy’s face, telling him how incredibly stupid his decision is. he wants to drag yeonjun to the hospital and force him to get the surgery, because he’s _dying_ , and taehyun couldn’t fathom his life without yeonjun (for this, taehyun actually feels quite selfish, something he despises himself for). in taehyun’s mind, the force of such an event would match that of an asteroid striking the earth, knocking the planet’s axis off of its usual alignment. 

the world began with the big bang, an explosion of astronomical magnitude that kickstarts the entirety of the universe. scientists commonly theorize that the existence of the cosmos as we know it will end in a similar fashion, where all of the stardust collapses in on itself into a microscopic pocket until it merely no longer remains a part of reality.

the duo are lying down in yeonjun's bed one evening when taehyun ponders it all, tentatively shuffling closer to the other boy. yeonjun easily grabs his wrist and pulls him closer to cuddle, recognizing the shorter boy's hesitance. “hi,” yeonjun whispers from where he's laying down, back pressed against the sheets of his bed. the blonde haired boy peers up at the younger boy through his lashes while he speaks, a faint smile carving itself out on his lips before he coughs, twice in a row.

taehyun, looking down at his first love, wonders if yeonjun’s end would coincide with the world’s too. how could the earth keep spinning, the sun rising, when yeonjun wasn’t there to witness it all?

taehyun feels helpless nowadays, waiting for the end. he should be able to just wrap himself in yeonjun’s embrace like the two always have after late nights at the dance studio, and enjoy the older boy’s warmth, but taehyun’s mind is plagued by the thought of yeonjun leaving him. he couldn’t even fathom such an idea, an alternate dimension where yeonjun is not there.

parts of yeonjun exist as imprints on every aspect of taehyun’s life, permanent stamps that will never fade. taehyun fell hard four years ago, when he was merely a scrawny teenager, lost in his hero’s journey. there were so many days where he contemplated quitting, retreating back into the normalcy of a life outside of the idol sphere. taehyun was so tired of it all that he was ready to accept having his own mediocrity and just give up, but yeonjun was the one who held him back. yeonjun whispered words of encouragement in taehyun’s ears before every monthly evaluation, ones that weren’t insincere in the way that the ones spoken by the other trainees could be. yeonjun roots so hard for taehyun that when the two boys tied for first place amongst trainees on that one day three years ago, yeonjun was crushing taehyun in a hug before the trainers could even read out his full name. the taehyun of three years ago clung onto yeonjun, beaming with such great force because he felt as if he had finally done it; he had made yeonjun proud.

taehyun recognizes that the person he is in the present day is a significantly more mature version of himself, but it’s a growth that comes from learning how to deal with those feelings. taehyun didn’t get hanahaki, but he knows what it feels like to have thorns pressed against his throat, seeming to suffocate him under the sheer weight of his love during those nights where he could do nothing but cry out, gasping to get air to flow into his lungs. there was nothing physically there, but taehyun could feel the vine wrapping around his throat. even now, he still imagines it sometimes, during moments like these where he and yeonjun are so close, because it’s never enough.

taehyun leaves yeonjun’s room after a few moments, as the blonde excuses himself to go to the bathroom. when shutting the door, he can hear yeonjun start hacking up flowers. taehyun grips the doorknob tighter in that moment, ready to turn around and re-enter the room, but something pulls him back, the same nagging insecurity that has prevented him from doing so much when it comes to yeonjun. it's what keeps his lips sealed. 

for everything taehyun knows, everything he understands about how yeonjun is feeling, there’s something that he remains oblivious to.

_we're ahead, as far away as one can go. you don't know that we're 20 centimeters apart._

\--

yeonjun realizes very quickly that there’s a common misconception about hanahaki, one that is unintentionally perpetuated by many of the folktales about the disease. because against all odds, the bile seeping up his throat whenever he chokes up some new flower petals does not manage to sour what he feels for taehyun. the constant pain sure doesn’t strengthen it either, but instead, the flowers just act as a constant reminder of what he feels. it grounds yeonjun, in some crazy way. 

nowadays, claims like these make yeonjun wonder if he’s insane. while he wasn’t the most level-headed person in the world, as the oldest member of his group, he’s always carried a certain weight of responsibility with him. yeonjun’s self-assured poise was one of his most distinguishable features in comparison to his peers, but he learns really quickly that love breaks any logical thinking patterns that he once had. 

yeonjun wasn’t an extreme optimist of sorts. he didn’t consider himself a human manifestation of sunshine like kai was, despite the bright yellow color of his hair, so the way he manages to continuously find positives in this situation astounds everyone, but especially himself.

love is weird like that, yeonjun decides. some say that love involves giving away pieces of yourself, and he agrees. there are definitely parts of himself that he has lost, things that have disappeared under the wavefront of this new feeling that is filling every square inch of his being. however, for everything he loses, the amount he gains increases tenfold. he learns things about himself, lives more freely than ever, and gets to really appreciate the finer things because now, he feels like every moment means something with the end so near. everything about unrequited love is not negative, or maybe yeonjun just doesn’t allow it to be. he doesn’t allow his feelings to be stained by the stream of violet liquid leaking from his lips as he kneels over the white porcelain toilet, emptying the contents of his throat to the best of his abilities.

_every night, without a sound, i grow taller and feel for you more._

yeonjun didn’t know that he’d be undergoing such a pivotal journey of self discovery at the age of twenty two, figuring that was a coming of age story that he would experience once as a trainee and then never again. instead, the more he’s left alone with his thoughts, his love grows and so do the size of the flowers he’s coughing up.

yeonjun recognizes that it’s getting bad, and it’s probably time to do something. still, it’s so easy to lie and say otherwise, when the flowers and taehyun are both so beautiful.

he googles them one day out of pure curiosity, thinking that it’s a good idea to study the specific flowers the universe has planted in his lungs. he discovers that they’re pansies.

“ _the garden pansy symbolizes great love or admiration that one person has for another, but one that is forbidden, separated by distance or another reason. the darker they are, the more negative of a connotation they possess._ "

yeonjun thinks about the petals he threw out the other day, that ranged in color from a royal purple to a dark eggplant. he laughs, somewhat bitterly, at that.

the universe works in strange ways, yeonjun decides, giving him such a fitting flower. no matter how many moments he and taehyun have shared, as friends, bandmates, coworkers, and everything in between on that spectrum, there was a barrier between two of them that he could never cross. sometimes, yeonjun allows his feelings to hold him back, and just deals with the bloody aftermath of harboring unrequited feelings for someone he spends every day with.

yeonjun can’t describe himself as happy, but he’s not drowning in hopelessness either. it’s a weird middle ground, sort of melancholic in nature. still, yeonjun will take it if it means he can avoid that one road everyone is trying to drag him down, because he firmly believes that it’s better to hurt a little bit than to not feel at all.

\--

no one figures out who yeonjun’s flowers are for until an especially bad day, where yeonjun and taehyun are standing side by side during a photoshoot. yeonjun’s disease has progressed tremendously in the last three months, and he has to excuse himself to the bathroom every twenty minutes or so to get rid of some flowers.

it’s his fourth trip when beomgyu swings the door open as yeonjun is trying to wash his hands, cleaning off remnants of the spit-slick flowers he just finished discarding.

“it’s taehyun, isn’t it?” beomgyu asks.

that stops yeonjun dead in his tracks. the way he tenses up is so apparent that yeonjun knows it's a lost cause, he can’t even try to deny it.

“how’d you figure it out?”

“soobin and i were talking, wondering why the flowers were getting bigger at such a rapid pace, and we kind of figured that it had to be one of us four. then i started watching you really closely, and the flowers always come up right after you and taehyun spend some time together.”

yeonjun sighs, palms digging into the counter. he tries to breathe in an attempt to calm himself down, but it comes out ragged since he just retched up flowers for a solid three minutes. his lungs are constricting, sending pain shooting up his throat momentarily, but yeonjun swallows it down. 

“you should tell him,” is all beomgyu says, and yeonjun doesn’t know why, but tears start leaking from his eyes. it’s been an impossibly hard day for him, and beomgyu seems to know that, because he just grips the older boy’s shoulders and pulls him in for a hug.

yeonjun lets himself sob, gives himself this moment to break down after trying to act so strong for these last few months. the universe seems to be on his side as well, because the flowers in his throat settle down for the moment. he cries over fear of the unknown, but also sheds tears for things that he thinks he already knows, like the fact that taehyun will never reciprocate his feelings and this will soon be the end.

\--

that mounting wave from earlier crashes against the shore eventually. the storm comes, the sea gets choppier, and suddenly, everything is in chaos.

“yeonjun, you need to go to the hospital,” taehyun pleads, tears dripping down his face.

yeonjun blinks up at taehyun, mind foggy. he feels like he’s ten feet underwater with the clouds pooling behind his irises, preventing him from seeing straight.

“soobin!” taehyun calls, voice urgent. “beomgyu! kai!”

yeonjun and taehyun had just been watching a movie together, the latest avengers film that taehyun had been constantly gushing about, when yeonjun starts coughing up blood in addition to the usual dose of pansy petals and purple fluid. a frightened taehyun ran out to grab a bucket, but the blood was not stopping.

yeonjun doesn’t know exactly what happens in the next few minutes, and the eldest boy is even unsure about just how much time passes until he snaps out of his haze, head leaning against his new hospital bed. the fog clears a little bit, but he’s still seeing stars, eyes swimming in pools of black and grey light.

“yeonjun, can you hear me?” soobin asks, shaking yeonjun’s upper torso a little bit. yeonjun nods, and tries to speak, but it comes out slightly garbled.

“i-” he starts. yeonjun blinks, and his vision focuses. he takes a breath, ready to speak, but is stopped. 

“yeonjun, tell them,” beomgyu cuts in, his voice having a serious edge that it usually lacks. yeonjun shakes his head, and beomgyu presses further. “yeonjun. this is your chance.”

“yeonjun, please,” taehyun says, and _oh_. yeonjun looks up and taehyun is crying. taehyun never cries. well, that’s a lie. taehyun used to cry occasionally when he was a trainee, but after debut, taehyun cries much more rarely. he’s not heartless like the tabloids say, he’s just good at controlling his emotions. but when yeonjun looks at taehyun now, he’s seeing the rawest version of him, and it reminds yeonjun so much of the taehyun that he met five years ago, that yeonjun is opening his mouth before he can stop himself. this time, flowers don’t come out. words do instead.

“taehyun, the flowers are yours. please don’t feel guilty, it’s not your fault,” yeonjun spills, a word vomit of sorts. everyone in the room stops moving except for beomgyu, who’s not fazed after his initially discovery of this fact, and yeonjun, who is subtly shaking.

taehyun doesn’t break his eye contact with yeonjun. “can everyone please give me and yeonjun some space?” he immediately asks.

soobin and kai look at each other, alarmed, but beomgyu grabs their wrists and the trio begin to exit. “no problem, call us if you need anything.”

the door slams shut. suddenly it’s just taehyun and yeonjun alone in this big, empty, white room and the tape reel keeps playing in yeonjun’s mind. he sees them, right before their debut two years ago, sitting in a practice room together. everyone else had gone home, but yeonjun decided that he wanted to dance some more in an attempt to perfect the choreography, and taehyun stayed for the sake of ensuring that yeonjun was safe and had company.

so much has changed since those days, but yeonjun’s just as vulnerable as he was back then. every era of his life is one of great uncertainty, because even as he uncovers more of the truth, new secrets continue to appear throughout all of his years.

yeonjun braces himself for a rejection, for a nail in the coffin, but taehyun looks just as nervous as he himself feels. yeonjun doesn’t have much time to wonder what exactly taehyun could be thinking about that has him so scared, rather than being solely disgusted with yeonjun, because taehyun is suddenly speaking.

“yeonjun, i-- you were my first love,” is all taehyun says, cheeks pink, and yeonjun chokes.

taehyun’s eyes widen, and he rushes towards the older boy, probably thinking that the flowers are acting up again, but the universe is working its mysterious magic again and yeonjun just pushes them down.

“what?” yeonjun asks.

“yeah…i had the biggest crush on you during trainee days and kind of just never got over it?” taehyun says, lightly scratching at the back of his neck. his confession is in no way elegant, full of uncertainty, not at the words he’s saying but he's merely unsure how to convey exactly what he feels. “honestly, this confession sucks, but i didn’t expect to be telling you about it today…i just kind of figured that it’d remain a secret forever. well, kai knew. you really had no clue?”

yeonjun is positively baffled. “i had no idea.”

“kai always says i was painfully obvious about it,” taehyun points out, looking down at yeonjun who is sitting up in the hospital bed. “god, i’m so sorry. i should have told you, and now that i’m telling you, i should be expressing it better but…i just really like you. i always have.”

“i…i’ve had a crush on you for a year now,” yeonjun replies, mouth gaping like that of a fish. taehyun seems to recognize yeonjun’s inability to form coherent sentences, so he just takes another step forward.

“yeonjun, we’ve been complete idiots. i’m really sorry that i put you through this,” taehyun says, gripping yeonjun’s arm. “i don’t know how to say this any other way, but the flowers are still growing in you, and i’d really like to kiss them goodbye so that we can figure this out ourselves, without the risk of death or anything,” he continues.

“yeonjun, can i kiss you?” taehyun finishes.

yeonjun has dealt with the flowers clogging his airways for almost four months now, but he’s never been more breathless than he is in this moment. “of course, taehyun.”

then taehyun is moving forward, and their lips are meeting, slotting against one another. taehyun kisses yeonjun slow, applying a light but firm amount of pressure. they break apart when yeonjun starts smiling into the kiss. 

“taehyun, could i kiss you again?” yeonjun asks and taehyun is now matching the older boy’s grin when he replies with a quiet but firm 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 and suddenly yeonjun is losing himself in the motions of kissing taehyun’s soft, pink lips for the second time.

taehyun seems to pluck the flowers out of yeonjun’s lungs with every delicate kiss he applies to the older boy’s lips. of course, in reality, it’s not that easy. after a while, the doctor and manager enter the room, and yeonjun is taken away for some screening to ensure that the hanahaki has subsided after the blossoming of their love. still, even as he’s taken further away from his bandmates (with three of them busy interrogating the red haired boy incessantly), he feels closer to taehyun than ever. he can still feel the kiss lingering on his lips.

_the distance between you and me, i want to get closer, so would you mind if i approached you? i'll give you a shot._

\--

taehyun fiddles with the picnic blanket, kneeling in the grass. yeonjun is laying on said blanket, the bleary blonde staring up at his boyfriend who is trying to shove him off so that he can fold the blanket up. taehyun’s attempts do not bring him any success, and yeonjun laughs softly at the pout the younger boy is sporting. 

“at least help me repack the cooler with the leftover food. make yourself useful,” taehyun remarks, and yeonjun sticks out his tongue petulantly.

“you’re saying that to the person who cooked the food.” 

taehyun rolls his eyes at the response, but starts shuffling through the containers anyways. “touche.”

yeonjun falls back on the blanket, watching his boyfriend as he works. taehyun dyed his hair back to a soft brown recently, while yeonjun remained a blonde. when taehyun notices yeonjun’s gaze on him, he smiles so big that his eyes crinkle, exposing a dimple on his cheek. sights like these make yeonjun realize that he’ll never be able to get over just how stunning his 𝘣𝘰𝘺𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥 is.

yeonjun eventually helps taehyun out, the two shoving tupperware back into the picnic bag they brought. he folds up the blanket and places it under his left arm, reaching out with his right to hold taehyun’s hand. taehyun, whose favorite form of affection was holding hands, easily complies.

yeonjun, citing a desire for ice cream, begins to drag taehyun to the park’s north entrance, since there is a parlor only a five minute walk from that gate. while walking in that direction, they stop at the lake located in the center of the park, where a bunch of people are observing the ducks.

“ah, they’re so cute!” taehyun remarks from the edge of the water, crouching down to be closer to the ducks. while the ducks catch taehyun's eye, something else sticks out to yeonjun.

“pansies,” he breathes out, staring at the flowers in the big, ceramic pots next to the various light posts scattered around the lake. taehyun whips his head around, spotting the flowers. they’re not exactly like yeonjun’s, as his were solely purple in color, and these come in an array of reds and blues. some of the flowers are white too. there are some purple ones in a pot to the side, but yeonjun continues to stare at the pot in front of him. he kind of wants to hurl from looking at them. they’re not too common of a sight in the city, or maybe yeonjun just wouldn’t have noticed them before. taehyun though just presses their palms closer together, voice lilting through the air.

“you know, i googled them once, like four months ago, after we started dating. they’re not all that bad, i mean, they can also stand for friendship, trustworthiness, and stuff like that. and,” taehyun smoothly sidles up to yeonjun, resting his head on his shoulder. yeonjun reacts instinctively, wrapping an arm around the shorter boy’s waist. “the white ones can mean ‘let’s take a chance’, or something like that. i like this chance we’ve taken.”

yeonjun scoffs. “that was so cheesy, it’s sickening.”

“your eyes turning red tell a different story,” taehyun singsongs, giggling to himself. yeonjun just smiles wider.

“unfortunately i have fallen for you despite your bad humor, and it's tragic on my part. now, let’s go get that ice cream. say bye to the ducks.”

“bye ducks!” taehyun jokingly exclaims, waving at the pond before retaking yeonjun’s hand. the two leave the park side by side, walking far away enough that the flowers disappear from their sight.

**Author's Note:**

> honestly, i have so many problems with this story. i feel like the plot is nonexistent, it’s too ramble-y, and the grammar is terrible. i probably made countless mistakes. i also can’t write fluffy romantic stuff? it’s really confusing. but that's enough about me and my insecurities. the eternally music video is a MASTERPIECE. it deserves an oscar, i swear. and it was making me feel s o much that i just figured i had to write this. i hope everyone enjoyed reading! taejun is a prime angsty ship but i refuse to let them not have a happy, or at least hopeful, ending right now because i can't take much more pain. taejunists rise!
> 
> anyways, i didn't ever think that i would post anything i write. tbh, i'm not very good at writing stories/fics at all, but i've just been on a kick lately which explains why i've written three out of the last six fics in the taejun tag. i start school in a week so i'll probably not post as much after then, but until next monday, i will be writing. today i was supposed to write a taegyujun one-shot actually,,, but you know. things happen. bighit gives me inspiration and i create this. so yeah! leave kudos or a comment if you want to tell me anything, i'd love to hear what you guys have to say. 
> 
> also,, drop your twitter @’s if you want me to follow you! i’m pretty active on MOA twitter but i’m chronically unfunny. such a tragedy. still, i’d love to be moots!
> 
> p.s.  
> if you want like post-disbandment taejun ft. confident gay kang taehyun,,, here's chapter 1 to a story i am writing : https://archiveofourown.org/works/24931645/chapters/60339805
> 
> and if you want high school taejun ft. pining taehyun and super cool yeonjun, here's chapter 1 to another story i am writing : https://archiveofourown.org/works/24905281/chapters/60266452


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